Regretful Repetition
by Desenchanter
Summary: Inuyasha died. Distraught & broken Kagome went home only to return to see he's alive. At first, it seemed like a blessing. A chance to prevent his death. Until she realized the truth… it's a curse. One that forces her to watch him die over & over again.
1. Fiery Finish

_**Summary:**_One day it finally happens, their luck runs out and Inuyasha is slain. Distraught and in need of comforting Kagome goes home for a day only to return to the Feudal Era and find Inuyasha is alive and well? Dazed she says nothing only to watch as he is killed again, and again, and again... It's a nightmare she can't seem to stop from repeating itself.

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><p><em><strong>Regretful Repetition<strong>_  
><em><strong> Chapter One: Fiery Finish<strong>_

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><p>"You stupid, pious, bitch," wasn't the worst thing that the young, in-training, miko heard throughout her journey to find and complete the shikon no tama. No, certainly she had been called far worse. Still, there was something about the malice filled red gaze that locked with her hazels that shook her to her core. Something… so wrong. So much hate, <em>so much<em>, and all aimed at her.

All because of her.

Without a doubt, she had no idea why this youkai hated her so much more than the rest they had encountered. Many had reason to dislike her, maybe even detest her, but this one? They had only encountered her that morning. Unbeknownst to them, she snuck up to their camp to set it aflame and separate them.

To make sure that she was able to get the adolescent alone. Higurashi Kagome was clever enough to grab her bow and a set of arrows before the fire got too bad, though. That must have caught the fiery redheaded youkai off guard, because she was able to shot her in the side causing her to collapse on the ground in agony.

That was when she finally said those four words.

"What do you want?" inquired Kagome whilst she drew another arrow back on her bow and pointed it towards the youkai once more, a silent threat for her not to move again. "Who are you?"

Her eyes only narrowed all the more for a brief moment, "I want you to suffer beyond what you could ever imagine. And to do that, I am willing to give anything."

"What?" Kagome countered cautiously, "why? I've never met you before."

But she got no answer, a burst erupted from the youkai to cause her to fly backwards and into a tree. From the way her head ached, she must have hit the tree ever so hard, because she felt herself slipping into slumber. And though she tried to stay awake, she couldn't.

"Kagome!"

Was the last word she heard, before her closing eyes watched as her usual savior in red ran out of the forest to come to her. It was hopeless… since the moment he ran past the youkai she erupted into flames. Flames so brutal that they could blind someone from their brightness, flames so harsh that those caught within them could do nothing but scream.

Seven times… she heard Inuyasha scream in terrible pain before she was pulled a safe distance from the flames. Dazed and in disbelief. That couldn't have just happened. Surely, he'd come into the clearing. Most definitely, Inuyasha would be fine. Obviously, he couldn't die.

He was Inuyasha, he was _invincible._

Yet… he never came into the clearing. All that was left of him were ashes. In an instant, her world was shattered.

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><p>It took the short journey back to their usual resting place, Kaede's home, for it to really sink in what had happened. That morning he had been alive, he had even nagged her about getting her things together quicker so that they could get a move on. After all, they had only been a short distance from Kaede's because she had just gotten back that morning from taking a test.<p>

They had only stopped there for a small break… at her request. _Her_ request because she was tired from the night before and he had given in even though it was clear he didn't want to. So did that make it all her fault? That horrible thing, that awful woman, had said she wanted to cause _her_ pain to make her suffer like she had never known prior to that point.

That she was even willing to give her life up for it… and she did. She succeeded, too, in a way that broke the young school girl. Broke her so badly that she didn't think it was possible to recover. How was she supposed to go on collecting jewel shards without him? How were they supposed to kill Naraku _without_ him?

How were they meant to do anything _without_ him?

No, the better question was this; how was she meant to live without him?

Her heart beat for him, fluttered at thoughts of him, pulsed quicker when he said something even somewhat flattering to her. It didn't take a genius to see that she wasn't the only one in pain. All of them were remarkably silent, most likely as astonished by the turn of events as she was. How could the strongest of them all be gone?

Inuyasha had always seemed invincible. Impossible to beat, if for no other reason than his ridiculously stubborn behavior. And for him to be taken down by a foe that they didn't even know the name of? That… just made it so much worse.

"Kagome-sama," Miroku dared to start, pausing to find a way to word his thoughts delicately, "we would all understand if you need time to yourself. If you would like to return home… I do not think any of us wish to continue onward for the time being."

Words refused to leave her lips, not even a peep had after they realized he was gone for good this time, she barely even blinked. It seemed like a dream, a horrible nightmare, something that she hoped every second harder and harder that she'd wake up and he'd be there. Alive and well… but the longer she kept her eyes open the more she realized what a lie that was.

This was reality, and reality was harsh.

So, instead, she merely nodded before she readjusted her yellow backpack on her shoulders and started her trek towards the well. She almost always made it in the company of Inuyasha, usually while dealing with him whining about how he didn't see why she had to spend time with school, and how useless it all was. It got annoying, but at the same time she knew it was his way of saying he'd miss her. That he wanted her to stay.

What had always really bothered her was that he couldn't just say that. Then again, she had never said how she really felt to him either. The very thought of that made her heart pang with even more pain, she hadn't even known it was possible to hurt so much. She had never told him how much he mattered to her… how much she cared.

Now, she'd never get the chance to.

It was only when she arrived on the other side of the well that it hit her. That the gravity of the situation smacked down on her and forced her to sit down at the bottom of the well. She struggled to get air into her lungs once the sobbing began, the tears finally broke free, and she knew it'd be a long while before she found the strength to stop them.

A part of her, one so slim that she barely even recognized it, almost hoped that she'd choke on her own cries so that she could be with him again. Of course, that didn't happen, and once she finally stopped enough that she could at least see she started to climb out of the well.

There was only one person she wanted to see. One person who could make the situation just slightly less horrible, so she quickly ran up to her house and through the kitchen door to see that her mother was there cooking something. Instantly, a smile slipped up her lips when she realized her daughter was home but the moment she saw her that expression evaporated.

"Kagome, sweetheart, what's wrong?"

"Mama," was all she could blubber out before she found a pair of arms wrapped tightly around her, triggering another terrible trail of sobs to start. Ones that were so violent in their strength that the two ended up kneeling on the kitchen floor.

Incoherently, she muttered between her gasps for air, "he… he… Inuyasha… _Inuyasha_… is gone. Inuyasha… is… dead."

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><p>Soberly, she stared at the calendar in front of her. The one that seemed to mock her that very moment as she laid in bed. Even though the sun had set, she couldn't find the will power to actually fall asleep. It ached everywhere… yet nowhere as much as her chest.<p>

One year ago that day she had fallen through the well and met Inuyasha. One year ago she had entered that world of mayhem and mystery. One year ago… it had been her fifteenth birthday. Which meant, that day was her sixteenth. How could a year go by so quickly?

How could… in just one year, one man gain such a hold on her heart? How could he leave? How could he _not be there_ anymore?

She shut her stinging eyes and grasped the sheets tighter as she hugged herself, trying to keep all the pieces together. Really, she had no idea what to do. Her life on this side of the well seemed so pointless all of a sudden, but there was equally no point to the one she held on the other side without Inuyasha.

Without him… Kami, she didn't know what she would do. What she _could_ do.

It was officially the worst birthday ever. She had even forgotten all about it until that moment. Though, her mother had prepared for her a wonderful breakfast for the occasion that very morning. She had wanted her to stay all day, to spend her birthday with her family, but she wanted to get back to Inuyasha. She needed to…

Maybe if she had stayed like her mother asked he would still be alive?

Reluctantly, it almost hurt, she got out of bed and started her trek down the stairs in her pink sweet-pants, white tank-top, and green hoodie to slide on a pair of slippers and start towards the well's hut. She didn't get far before a voice caught her attention.

"Kagome, sweetheart, what are you doing?"

She stopped briefly before turning around to see her worried mother at the door, a hand upon her chest, her brows lightly furrowed. "I… need to go see them."

"Are you sure you want to do that so soon?"

She just nodded, she wanted to find out if they were having a some sort of funeral for Inuyasha and if so when was it. Then… she'd probably leave the youkai fighting and jewel hunting to them. She just couldn't continuously return to that era without him being there. It'd hurt too much.

It was probably selfish of her, probably wrong even, but she just couldn't.

"I'll be back soon, Mama," Kagome asserted softly before she gave a weak wave and turned to open the door so she could walk down to the well.

It took a series of deep breaths for her to find the will power to make the leap down and to fly through the well. It hurt… so much to know that he wouldn't be there waiting for her. So much that she had to close her eyes tight and take another deep breath in. She could feel her whole body tense up, as if protesting how wrong it was for her to be there then.

"Hey, wench!" startled her so much that she jumped backwards and ran into the well's wall. "Hurry it up already!"

No… no that was wrong. That was _his_ voice, _his_ annoyed tone, _his_ but… that couldn't be. Quickly she pried open her eyes. One thing stood out as wrong right away, even with her just looking at the wall, it was light. When she turned her hazels up she could see the sky was blue and the sun was still there.

But… when she had left it had been night, hadn't it?

"Wench!" she heard again, then even saw _his_ face as he leaned over, "I know you are down there, so hurry it up already!"

"Inuyasha?" she weakly murmured, so silently, so unsure, that if not for his super-hearing he wouldn't have been able to hear her.

"Keh, yeah, now come on," he ordered again. Apparently, she didn't go fast enough for him because the next thing she knew she was standing face-to-face with him as he gripped her hips and leaped up and out of the well with her.

Miroku, Sango, and Shippou all seemed to be waiting there to greet her. All happy… all smiling as if nothing had happened. It didn't make sense.

"What are you wearing?" Inuyasha inquired with a lifted brow as he glanced over her odd outfit, she looked like a bit of a mess which was unlike her. That and she was missing her backpack full of supplies. But he wasn't able to ask another question before he felt her hands on his cheeks and saw her staring intently at him.

He felt a knot form in his chest from her close proximity to him and the way her hands kept sliding up and down his face as if to check to see if it was real. "What's wrong with you?"

Really… she had no idea how to answer that question.

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><p><em><strong>AN**: I didn't want to start a new story but this will just be seven or so chapters. I've had this idea for a long, long, long time so I decided to write it. I'm pretty positive that this idea has been done before but this is my version of it. My goal with this story is to keep everyone as in-character as possible and that's why it's T because let's be honest, Inuyasha and Kagome wouldn't ever do M rated things together in the manga/anime setting. Hope you enjoy.  
><em>


	2. Pernicious Poison

_**Note: I changed the title from Saving Him Is Killing Her to "Regretful Repetition"**_

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><p><em><strong>Regretful Repetition<strong>_  
><em><strong> Chapter Two: Pernicious Poison<strong>_

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><p>Even though the golden globes that were locked on her held nothing but utter bafflement, and generally seemed unpleased, she couldn't have been happier to be able to look into them. Really, she loved them so much. They were his best features, so gorgeous, so expressive—even if he didn't mean it, she could tell how he was actually feeling by just looking in them.<p>

And right then, he was utterly confused and a bit embarrassed from the fact that her hands were all over his face. In front of their comrades no less. If she was going to get touchy, she knew he'd prefer her doing it in private and away from prying eyes. At the moment, there were plenty of perplexed eyes staring at them.

"Kagome," finally snapped her out of her daze. The way he dragged out her name, an edge of concern on it, as he glanced up and down her again made her feel a bit better. Finally she realized what she was doing and removed her hands from his face and took a step back. Quickly, her gaze shifted over every part of him until she was satisfied he was really there.

"Kagome-sama, are you alright?" Miroku finally dared to ask while he walked up to her, glancing over her as well. It was unlike their dear friend to show up in such a state. Usually, she was well dressed and ready to go. This time she wore sweat-pants and a hoodie and her hair looked barely brushed.

"When was the last time I saw you…?" questioned Kagome, her brows bent slightly as she looked over to her friend. She could tell her inquiry only worried the monk further as his brows migrated closer but he answered her all the same.

"You left three days ago for a test."

But… that wasn't right. That was… well, that was that morning. That morning she returned from her three days for her high school entrance exams. It'd be a miracle if she got into a good school with her markings and multiple absences but she thought she'd try anyway.

"Kagome-chan, what is wrong?" Sango had to ask as she walked over to place a hand on her friend's shoulder. Her eyes were puffy and red, as if she had been crying, and she had just returned from her world so Sango instantly assumed that something was wrong with her family.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked over to her mahogany eyed friend. Obviously, she was worrying them all a great deal and she hated to do that but… she was worrying herself, too. It had all seemed so real, could it really have just been a dream?

"I don't know what's going on… but I was pretty sure I had already come back today and then…" slowly, her stare shifted over to her irreplaceable inu-hanyou, "this youkai attacked us all of a sudden and you… you died. I went home for the day and decided to come back but…"

To that, Inuyasha cocked a brow before allowing his classic 'keh' to come out accompanied by, "obviously you were dreaming, idiot. I'm not dead and some random youkai sure as hell isn't going to be what ends me if that ever happens."

"You do look like you just got out of bed," Miroku pointed out tenderly, "it must have just been a bad dream, Kagome-sama."

"But it seemed so real," she murmured.

"I ain't dead, so it wasn't real," Inuyasha insisted arrogantly, "now get over it."

Yeah, that was her Inuyasha alright. As sensitive as ever, what a charmer, not… but she was happy to have him back all the same. Well, apparently it was just a bad dream, she never lost him, but…

"I'll be right back," she slowly said as she took a series of steps to the well.

"What? But you just got here!" She heard Inuyasha complain but it was too late, she was over the edge to jump into the well to venture to her side. When she arrived on the other side she took a breath in and climbed out and exit the hut to see it was day outside. Somehow… it must have really been all just a dream.

Just a horrible, horrible, dream.

Lightly, she shook her head then started on her short trek to her house and quietly into her kitchen as not to wake anyone in case she was the first up. Apparently, that was useless though since her grandpa was sitting at the table reading the newspaper. When he looked up to see who was entering, his brow quickly rose up.

"Child, why haven't you changed out of your pajamas yet? I thought you had gone through the well already. In less you have changed your mind…? Your mother would be happy if you spent your birthday here, after all," her grandpa lectured.

That just confirmed it. It was a horrible, _horrible_ dream. A realistic one but just that—a nightmare. Something that she woke up from. She could almost laugh at the thought as she went up stairs to change into a pair of jeans and a shirt then put on a pair of her tennis shoes before finding her yellow bag and heading out. Obviously it had just been a dream.

To think, some random fire youkai without even a name had killed Inuyasha? She just smiled and shook her head. He was too strong for that. He was _Inuyasha_, he was invincible.

Yet, always infuriated it would seem. Since the moment she climbed her way out of the well she saw him standing there, staring a hole through her. Quickly, he questioned, "what the _hell_? Are you done now? Can we get going?"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry," she retorted as she swung her legs over the well and rearranged her backpack on her shoulders. "That was just really weird… I was so sure it was real. It seemed _so_ real."

It took him a bit before it seemed to dawn on him that she was talking about the dream, at first he just gave her a small nod, then said, "you're an idiot. I ain't getting killed, ever, you should know that."

"I know," she dragged out, allowing a frown to curve her lips down, "I should. I'm sorry. We can go now."

"Good," he then gave a nod so that she could follow him to the others and then they were off on their seemingly endless journey of finding all the jewel shards and destroying Naraku. It seemed so crazy that it really had taken a year already to collect as much as they had... and, really, get nowhere.

No. That wasn't true. They had accomplished a lot, saved plenty of people, but they had yet to kill Naraku. That was the most important thing. It was the only thing that could save Miroku—in turn, that would probably be the only thing to save Sango. If she lost her husband-to-be, on top of all she had already lost…

"You're abnormally quiet, Kagome-chan," Sango pointed out after a while of their constant walking. "You look tired, is that it? Would you like to stop for a short break?"

"We just started," Inuyasha quickly bickered as he glared back to those who were following his lead.

Yes… she was really tired, almost as if she hadn't really slept last night. A break might be nice, yet when she looked up the surroundings seemed to be so familiar. They were just like the one in her dream, the one where Inuyasha died.

Which quickly earned a, "no, no, I'm fine. Let's keep going. Inuyasha's right, we only just started."

"Exactly," Inuyasha concurred. "Now let's keep going."

"Are you sure, Kagome-chan?" Sango inquired with a lifted brow. "If you are tired we can rest."

"No, that's not it, I was just thinking," she assured her comrade, even added a smile to make her understand that she was perfectly fine.

"Thinking about what?" Shippou asked as he hopped on to her shoulder.

"One year ago… I fell down the well and met Inuyasha," she said, letting her gaze shift up to the hanyou that led the pack. His ear twitched, so she assumed he was listening now that he had heard his name. "It's crazy to think that much time has passed by… I mean, I didn't meet the rest of you for a while after that but it is still weird."

She was sixteen year old, about to enter in high school, and still traveling to and from one era to the next. A year… she didn't think it would take that long. She thought that it would all be fixed by then and she would have gotten to go back to her normal life. With ease, she would have transitioned back into life as a regular student. A high school student…

Yet, that all seemed so impossible. How was she supposed to leave this world behind, leave Inuyasha…? And go back to that life? At the very same time, she couldn't imagine forsaking her family to stay in the feudal era forever. Did she even really want to do that?

At sixteen, she shouldn't have to make such big decisions. At sixteen… she shouldn't have to make a choice that would forever alter her life. Then again, with the way things were going, maybe she wouldn't have to.

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><p>It was noon, or at least somewhere near it, which was nice. It freed her from that aching worry in the back of her head that somehow her nightmare would become a reality. In that dream he had died in the morning. Obviously, it was just a dream. A horrible, <em>horrible<em>, one.

"Kagome," Inuyasha began, startling her enough that she jumped some before looking up to see him walking over to her. Finally, they took that much needed break. Oddly enough, it had been her that had kept saying "let's keep going" instead of Inuyasha but… she just wanted to be as far away from that area as possible.

"Hi," she replied before he sat down next to her on the riverbed. The warm weather was only one of many hints that spring was slowly giving way to summer. To the far right of them, Miroku and Sango sat together underneath the shade of tree. To their left, Kirara and Shippou splashed around in the shallows part of the water.

"You're really quiet today," he dared to say finally, which got her hazels to switched back him. "Is it… because of that dream you had?"

She nodded her head some before she sighed and said, "it seemed so real."

"But it _wasn't,_" he countered. He didn't know how he could emphasize that anymore. Hell, he didn't even know _why_ he had to emphasize it at all. He was _Inuyasha_, the guy that saved her nine times out of ten without even getting almost killed. Why would she ever think that he would actually get killed, by some nameless youkai nevertheless?

"I know," she whispered back.

Maybe, probably not, but just maybe he when he parted his lips again he was going to say something comforting to her. Something that could magically make that pain she felt in her dream really feel like just a _dream_—not an aching reality. But, she would never get to hear what he was about to say since his ear tweaked and golden gaze shifted away from her almost instantly.

Quickly, worry wrapped around her heart. She didn't want to ask because she didn't want to know but he stood up and grabbed his sword's handle all the same. So… she had to. "What is it, Inuyasha?"

"I can hear screaming," he answered, "get the others and tell them to follow me."

"Don't go off alone!" Kagome shouted even though she knew it was too late, he took a leap forward without her all the same. Swiftly, she stood up and looked over to her friends who had also noticed him. "Kirara, Shippou, come here."

Reluctantly, they stopped their play to go to her just as Sango and Miroku arrived.

"What's wrong, Kagome-sama?" Miroku inquired.

"Inuyasha said he heard screaming, he wants us to follow him but is so stupid that he went off by himself," she grumbled the end to herself. "We should hurry in case he needs our help."

And that was exactly what they did, Kirara transformed to give them a ride so they could follow their comrade to where the screaming originated from. A village torn apart, injured spewed across the floor, dead torn to shreds. It didn't take long to find the source of all the misery—a monstrosity. It was huge in size, with eight legs and a bunch of beady eyes but it wasn't a spider youkai. At least, not purely, since it had a long scorpion tail ready to strike.

But none of them ever had to worry about that, since in a slash from Inuyasha's sword destroyed it as soon as they all got off of Kirara.

"See, Kagome-sama, Inuyasha is fine," Miroku declared, but that didn't stop her from rushing up to him.

The first thing that caught her attention was a bleeding spot on his back, a fairly large gash being the root cause upon his shoulder. It wasn't until she placed a hand on his lower back that he seemed to notice her.

"Are you alright?" Kagome quickly questioned.

"I'm fine," he grunted before taking in a deep breath, "it surprised me with its tail. It doesn't feel that deep, it just burns. I'll be alright."

"It burns?" she countered with a raised brow, "Inuyasha… that doesn't sound good. Maybe it had venom? Where's Myoga? We should get him to suck it out—"

"Kagome, I'm fine," Inuyasha asserted but the groan that followed and the way he grabbed his side didn't seem to say the same thing. "I don't know where Myoga is anyway."

"We should find him then!"

Though… she had no idea how to do that. The little flee showed up when he wanted to. They never had to go out of their way to find him.

"I might have something that'll help," she decided as she took off her backpack and began to rummage through it as Inuyasha slowly kneeled down.

"Kagome-sama!" Miroku called out, "do you have any medicine for these injured people?"

"Go help them, Kagome," Inuyasha ordered, "I'll be fine."

"But you're hurt," she stated in a strained voice as her eyes wandered back to his wound.

"In less you have some anti-venom ointment or something like that in your bag, you'll be more help to them. I'm just going to rest here for a little bit, I'll be fine."

"You promise?" she asked with a small frown. If not for that dream she wouldn't even question him… he had been poisoned before and pulled through. He did have a higher tolerance to that type of thing than a mortal, after all. But… she just couldn't lose him. Not really.

"Yeah, sure, I promise," he muttered back.

So… reluctantly she walked away, watching him ever so carefully as he leaned against a nearby hut. Eventually, to help the injured, she had to take her eyes off of him to put medicine on their wounds and wrap them up. Every once and a while she'd look back at him and like promised, he seemed to be fine.

Except… when he fell asleep. She didn't like that too much so she paused helping strangers to go check on him. He probably need to rest so she didn't shot his name, just kneeled down beside him to make sure he was alright.

He seemed so peaceful but he didn't move at all. Not even his chest.

"I-Inuyasha?" she stammered as she lifted her hand up to in front of his nose but there was no breath. No. No. _No_. Her mind screamed as she grabbed his shoulder and shook him frantically to try and get him to move at all.

Why did she leave his side? Why did she believe him? She shouldn't have… she wouldn't ever do that again if only he just woke up.

"Inuyasha! Wake up! Inuyasha!"

"Kagome-chan?" Sango questioned once she reached her side, "what's… wrong?"

"Inuyasha's not breathing," she quickly replied which sparked her friend to kneel down next to her with worry written in the wrinkles that were created from bent brows.

But… no matter what they did. He wouldn't start breathing again. His heart would no longer beat.

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><p>"Kagome-sama, I understand how upset you must be," Miroku assured her as he placed a hand on her shoulder to try his best to comfort her. "None of us could have seen this coming… to think some random youkai would be Inuyasha's downfall."<p>

"I knew this was going to happen," Kagome countered as she tore herself away to climb onto Kirara's back. "I have to go."

"Kagome-sama, these people still need your help," Miroku kept up while he motioned to those with injured that she hadn't helped yet but that seemed so… unimportant in the grand scheme of things so she just shook her head and got Kirara to take off.

If it wasn't a dream… then that meant all she had to do was go to the well, back to her world, and then back again. Right? That would work and Inuyasha would be alive. She'd be able to prevent him from dying that time because she knew it wasn't just a dream.

It took until nightfall for Kirara to get them back to the well. Without hesitation, she leaped off and into the well to zoom through the blue and end up on her side again. She grabbed her ladder and climbed up only enough so that when she jumped back down she flew back to the past. Hopefully, so far back that that horrible day never actually happened.

When she got back her eyes were shut—she was far too scared to see whether or not it was light out again. Her breath was hitched in her throat, though her lungs burned for her to take allow air back in. For a minute, she stood here, just praying that when she opened her eyes all would be well again.

So, slowly, her lids lifted to see that there was light shinning down on down on her. With that, she let out her breath. She had no idea what was going on but _that_ time she wouldn't let history repeat itself.

That time, she'd find a way to save him even if it killed her.

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><p><em><strong>AN**: Thank you for all the reviews. I hope you continue to review and enjoy the story.  
><em>


	3. Hurt Heart

**_Regretful Repetition_**  
><strong><em>Chapter Three: Hurt Heart<em>**

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><p>She should have known… she shouldn't have left him to tend to others. She really should have done something to help him. There had to have been a way to prevent the poison from killing him. Instead of lamenting on all of that, she shut her eyes and took a deep breath. The sky was bright and blue which meant she got to restart that day yet again.<p>

There was no way she was going to let anything horrible happen to Inuyasha this time. She was going to save him, no matter what it took. Again, she took a deep breath to calm herself. She couldn't be a wreck right then, she had to have her senses with her… regardless of how tired she was.

It had been almost three days since she last slept if she stopped to think about it but sleep wasn't important. There was always that saying—she could sleep when she's dead. She just hoped that wasn't the cost to stop him from dying.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted while he leaned over the edge of the well to look down. "Come up already!"

A smile slipped up her lips, even though his impatience would usually annoy her. At least he was there to annoy her. She'd take that over the alternative any day. She had known for a long time that she cherished him so each time she lost him only brought her grief instead of any helpful realization.

"Kagome!" he called out again, irritation lacing each her name.

"I'm coming!" she answered before she started her climb up. When she grabbed the wooden rim to pull herself over she could see that all her friends were waiting for her. Each looked happy and _healthy_. It wasn't just Inuyasha she worried about, it was each of them, too.

"Where's you big bag?" Inuyasha asked with a cocked black brow. His golden gaze glanced over her unusual choice of outfit—jeans, a shirt, and tennis shoes. Slowly, he thought he realized what that meant and began to growl lightly. "Kagome… you better not be here to tell me you need to stay longer in your time."

"I'm not," she assured him easily much to his surprise.

"So," he drew out, "where's your bag?"

Really, she didn't know. She had left the bag she had at the village that was attacked but that apparently hadn't happened yet so… she supposed it had to still be back at her home? That wasn't important though.

Trying to figure out how to logically explain to them what was going on _was _vital. It was just… how was she going to do that without them thinking she was crazy or it was just a dream like last time?

"Are you alright, Kagome-sama?" Miroku inquired with a lifted brow.

"I have to tell you all something and you'll probably just think I'm crazy," she blurted while her hazel gaze shifted from each of her friends until they rested solely on the one with a gaze that matched the burning ball of flames in the sky.

"What is it?" Sango dared to ask, ever so cautiously.

"This is the third time I've started this day," she stated. "I… keep reliving this day. Every time it goes wrong I just have to go back down the well and then I pop back up here and its morning instead of the evening."

"How does the day go wrong?" Miroku questioned.

"Inuyasha," Kagome slowly began, "dies…"

"I _what_?" Inuyasha snapped, "_how_?"

"The first time you burned to death, the second time you were poisoned," she explained before she raised her hands slightly. "And don't say it. I know I wasn't dreaming. This is really happening."

"No," Inuyasha retorted, "I wouldn't get killed either of those ways. Who the hell keeps supposedly killing me?"

"It's been a different demon each time," she countered with a biter frown, "I don't want to argue with you. I just don't want it to repeat again. I don't think it's any crazier than saying that I go through this well," she paused to point at it, "and go five hundred years into the future."

"She does have a point," Sango whispered.

"That's stupid," Inuyasha insisted in a grumble. "I ain't getting killed by some demon."

"Inuyasha," Kagome dragged out with a frown, "please just listen to me… I don't want to see anything else bad happen to you."

"Nothing is going to happen to me," he kept up.

As usual, he had to be difficult but she supposed she should have seen that coming. But… regardless of what he thought, she wasn't going to let anything happen to him again. She already had a plan to keep him safe. It was just… well, he probably wasn't going to like it.

* * *

><p>With the assistance of Miroku, Inuyasha was locked away in the most demon-proof hut in all of Kaede's village. He had helped her all morning to write a variety of demon warding scrolls to plaster across the first empty hut they found. They wanted to use Kaede's but there was a rather bad ailment going around the village and she needed to treat them. Apparently, there was a thief going around robbing people so they were less prone to letting someone into their home and more willing to go to hers for help.<p>

So, their drama had to be kept elsewhere.

Inuyasha had to be difficult about it, too. Constantly he insisted that he didn't need to be protected because he _wasn't_ going to get killed. Kagome had a bad dream, that was all. It wasn't a big deal.

But her sincere panic got to the others in their group. Enough so that they were willing to give up a day to make her feel better. Alas, her prideful hanyou was refused to be pinned up in a demon-proofed hut so much so that she had to use the _word _so that Miroku could tie him up and get him into the hut.

All she received in return was a harsh glare for her hanyou comrade the entire time she sat across from him. It didn't matter to her if he was mad—they had already lasted longer than any other day. In the not too distant future night would cascaded across the sky and the horrible day she was stuck in would finally be over and Inuyasha would be _alive_.

"Untie me," Inuyasha growled to gain her weak attention. Most of the time she was ever so close to falling asleep—for a while, she even did.

"Will you promise to stay in the hut if I do?" she questioned.

"Yes," he grumbled.

"I don't believe you," she muttered back before she crawled over to sit beside him instead of across from him. Yet again, she let her eye fall shut... that time, though, she let her head rest upon his shoulder which instantly got the hanyou to tense up.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

"Resting," she answered.

Fine… he supposed he could deal with that but he had to swallow back whatever lodged itself in his throat. "Kagome," he drew out again until he heard a 'hm?'. "What are we doing?"

"I told you I'm resting—"

"Not that," he countered, "I mean… with all of this. You can't possibly think that—"

"Inuyasha," she sternly stated before she sighed and sat up to look him in the eye. "I really do mean it."

"The well doesn't work like that, it never has," he kept up. "I think it's more likely that you had a bad dream."

"I think you just don't want it to be true because… you're scared of dying," she replied cautiously while she looked at his reaction. The way his golden gaze diverted hers seemed to say yes. "Inuyasha, I'm never going to let something bad happen to you again. I couldn't stand losing you… I just… I just…"

"You just… what?" he asked with a bent brow.

"I… love you," she admitted, sheepishly. She wanted to look away from him in fear of what his reaction to hearing that might be but she couldn't. She would find out eventually so she should prepare herself. He froze up, his cheeks flashed red, and wide eyes.

Surprised. He was surprised to hear it but did that mean he was unhappy or joyful? She couldn't really tell.

"Kagome," he stretched out while he forced his golden gaze back to her. "Untie me."

"No," she whispered while her gaze felt to the ground.

"I'm not helpless, untie me," he repeated.

She frowned at hearing that because, "I am… "

"No you're not," he countered. "You're helpful most of the time."

She smiled, faintly, at that. It was sweet that he was trying to cheer her up the best he could so she leaned back to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Still, I feel helpless to save you."

"Untie," he ordered again, "please, Kagome?"

Well, if he was going to say please… when she looked out the sky she saw that the sky was turning from blue to navy and orange so the day was almost up and there was nothing happening. She got up to go check outside and see that the others were still away seeing how Kaede was doing. Really, she would rather wait until they returned but… she did go back to start to take off the charms that Miroku had put on the rope then undid it completely.

Quickly, he sprung up and stretched his arms high in the air to hear the fresh crack of his back.

"I've been sitting around all day! Do you have any idea how _annoying_ that is?" Inuyasha grumbled.

"Do you know how annoying it is to confess your love for someone and not have that person comment on it at all?" she _wanted_ to ask but didn't. Instead she just shook her head before her hazels widened at the sight of what happened to him as the moonless sky took the night…

His hair turned as black as hers and golden gaze gave way to the brown.

Oh, why did it have to be a new moon night?

"Inuyasha please stay inside for the night," she begged while she grabbed his arm.

"I'll be fine," he countered as he opened the door and stepped out but before she got the chance to follow she heard something that made her heart sink to her stomach.

"Trespasser! What are you doing on my property?" then a grunt. As soon as she stepped outside her heart broke at the sight of an elder man with a knife stuck in Inuyasha's chest. Her heart might be broken but his was bleeding out.

"Inuyasha!" she screamed while she grabbed him and held him as they fell to the ground. She placed her hand over the blood that was gushing out but… she didn't know what to do about that. Even if she could get him to through the well to her era and to a hospital the knife was _in his heart_—could they fix that?

No… no… no!

There was too much blood.

Her breath quickened as she shook her head and put more pressure onto the wound. "Inuyasha… You're going to be alright. OK? You're going to be _perfectly alright_."

"Ka… Kagome," he choked.

"Sh," she requested as she felt a steaming stream of tears trickle down her face. "Sh, I'll just go back down the well and it'll be alright again. I promise. It'll work."

"I lov…" he started but she'd never know what he was going to say.

She could only guess for that day.

Again, she failed him and had to run away.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **_Thanks for reading, reviewing, and all that good stuff. I have a request, go to my profile and take the poll. I'm not sure if I'll write either story but if I do, I'll probably only start one of them. I have the two summaries for you to vote from. Thanks._

_Please continue to review, thanks!_


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